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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

NTSB releases Dreamliner to airline

From Wire Reports

SEATTLE – The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it has released the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that caught fire a week ago back to Japan Airlines.

Airline spokeswoman Carol Anderson said JAL is inspecting the jet and doesn’t yet know how long it will take to repair it and return it to service.

The NTSB is examining the burned-out battery at a lab in Washington, D.C., where it will be disassembled this week.

The 12-hour, 20-minute flight from Tokyo to Boston’s Logan International Airport landed less than half an hour before the fire broke out, though all 183 passengers and crew had disembarked.

UPS abandons bid for TNT Express

UPS scrapped plans to grow in Europe through the acquisition of Dutch delivery company TNT Express because European regulators were getting ready to reject the $6.9 billion deal.

It would have been the largest acquisition in UPS history.

UPS offered in March to buy TNT, Europe’s second-largest delivery company, to better compete with Europe’s largest, Deutsche Post’s DHL. Regulators objected, saying the deal would reduce competition in the market for express delivery of small packages. UPS said Monday that after meeting with regulators on Friday, the Atlanta company told TNT it saw no prospect of the deal being approved.

Stock funds drop for sixth straight year

BOSTON – Investors pulled money from stock mutual funds in 2012 for the sixth year in a row, despite the stock market’s strong performance. Bond funds attracted the most cash since 2009, another illustration of how conservative investors have become with their money since the financial crisis.

A net $90 billion was withdrawn from U.S. stock mutual funds last year, industry consultant Strategic Insight said on Monday. The full-year total was the largest since 2008, when $136 billion was removed.

Home prices see best gain in six years

LOS ANGELES – A measure of U.S. home prices rose in 2012 by the most in six years, buoyed by stronger demand, a lower inventory of unsold homes and fewer sales of bank-owned properties.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic says its home price index, which is based on repeat sales of the same properties, climbed 7.5 percent last year. That’s the biggest annual increase since 2006.

CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will rise 6 percent nationally this year.

CoreLogic estimates that sales of foreclosed homes fell more than 20 percent last year, the third annual decline in a row. That decline, plus a tight supply of homes for sale in many markets, is the main factor driving home prices higher.

JPMorgan told to fix oversight

WASHINGTON – JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been ordered to take steps to correct poor risk management that led to a surprise trading loss last year of more than $6 billion.

Federal regulators also on Monday cited the bank for lapses in oversight that allowed the bank to be used for money laundering.

JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank by assets, will not pay a fine under the agreements with the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, a Treasury Department agency. The bank promised to strengthen its policies and procedures to control risk and to screen customers to prevent money laundering.